starnes publishing internship programjnews.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/starnes... ·...

STARNESPUBLISHING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Starnes Publishing produces monthly community newspapers in the metro Birmingham area. Our publications include 280 Living, The Homewood Star, Hoover Sun, Vestavia Voice, Village Living and Cahaba Sun.

We are looking for interns with a variety of skills and a passion for hyperlocal community journalism. Interns will have the opportunity to work closely with our small staff in ways that impact the production process.

Paid and unpaid positions for fall, spring and summer are available, as well as those for class credit. For more information about our publications, visit starnespublishing.com and fi nd our papers on Facebook.

Sponsors ..........................A4

280 News .........................A6

Business ......................... A10

Chamber......................... A18

Community ....................A22

Events .............................A24

Medical Directory ........ A26

School House ..................B8

Real Estate......................B13

Faith .................................

B14

Summer Camp Guide ...B15

Sports ...............................C

2

Opinion ............................C12

Calendar ..........................C13

March 2016 | Volume 9 | Issue 7

n e i g h b o r l y n e w s & e n t e r t a i n m e n t

280Living

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Couple starts new chapter of

their lives after falling in love and

marrying each other in senior living

facility’s fi rst wedding.

INSIDE

See page B1

Tying the Knot

Referred for a reason.

Proudly keeping homes cleaner

and healthier since 1987

871-9338www.MAIDS.com

SPRING CLEAN.YOU’RE THINKING

We think thatSPRING CLEAN.YOU’RE THINKING


AT EVERY CLEAN.AT EVERY CLEAN.AT EVERY CLEAN.

facebook.com/280Living

Members of Chelsea High School’s

fi shing club form tight-knit bonds

both on and off the water.

See page C1

Gone Fishing

By ERICA TECHO

The Beverage Place has been

closed every Sunday since Joe and

J.J. Rueschenberg bought the pack-

age store in Inverness Plaza 18 years

ago, but after March 1, that could

change.On March 1, Shelby County voters

will be able to vote for or against

Sunday alcohol sales on their pri-

mary election ballot.

“I think it [Sunday sales] will defi -

nitely have a moderate impact if not

a large one, and if not for us, even for

the restaurants that are not allowed

to sell on Sundays now,” said Joe

Rueschenberg, who also owns The

Pink Package Store on U.S. 280.

When Shelby County legislators

chose to place Sunday alcohol sales

on the primary ballot, they were

responding to ongoing requests from

cities that saw the lack of sales as

a detriment, state Rep. Mike Hill,

R-Columbiana, said.

“As long as I’ve been there, the

cities and the county have just beaten

the legislative delegation to death to

try and get Sunday sales because they

realized they’re losing some revenue

they were missing,” Hill said.

Joe Godfrey, executive director

of the Alabama Citizens Action Pro-

gram and Shelby County resident,

said putting Sunday sales on the

Shelby residents split

on Sunday alcohol sales

See VOTE | page A31

Lorelei Posey stands with one of the

paintings she has for sale, titled “My Very

Own Starry Night.” Photo by Erica Techo.

heartchildof a

the

By ERICA TECHO

Lorelei Posey doesn’t know

who London Mullaly

will be, but she is already

anticipating his or her

arrival. London is the name

Lorelei’s godparents, Jenny and Jay Mullaly, have

chosen for their future adopted child. Lorelei, a

fi rst-grade student at Chelsea Park Elementary, is

helping raise money for their adoption.

After participating in the Shelby County Art

Show in April, Lorelei asked to have her own

art show, where she could display all of her

paintings.

See LORELEI | page A30

childchildBy ERICA TECHO

Lorelei Posey doesn’t know

who London Mullaly

will be, but she is already

L will be, but she is already

The Homewood StarVolume 5 | Issue 12 | March 2016

Sponsors ........ A4

City .................. A6

Business ......... A8

Chamber......... A11

Community ... A12

Opinion .......... A12

Camp Guide.. A22

School House ..B8

Sports ..............B11

Medical Guide .. B18

Real Estate.....B21

Calendar ........B22

INSIDE

facebook.com/thehomewoodstar

neighborly news & entertainment for Homewood

Blue Line Combatives, a weekly

self-defense class, is arming the

community with knowledge.

See page A20

Taking Action

See page B14

On the Mat

Homewood High School freshman

Darcy Gibbs is challenging herself

on the wrestling mat.

By SYDNEY CROMWELL

Along with her backpack and books, Home-

wood High sophomore Macy Squires brings

something extra to school each day: Max, her

service dog.

Max spends most of the school day lying qui-

etly next to Macy’s desk, unless he recognizes

the signs, imperceptible to humans, that Macy

is about to have a seizure or her blood sugar has

dropped dangerously low.

“He’s probably saved my life a couple of

times,” Macy said.

Macy’s seizures began in eighth grade, and

she was homebound for part of the year. After a

seizure caused her to fall and hit the back of her

head, forming a hematoma, Macy said her family

began looking for “outside of the box options.”

That’s when they learned about the possibility of

a service dog, trained to detect scent changes that

precede seizures and hypoglycemia.

The only problem: Macy was allergic to dogs.

The Squires couldn’t get just any service dog.

Fortunately, Max is a poodle, a hypoallergenic

breed, and both of his parents were therapy ani-

mals. When they fi rst met Max, Macy said it

immediately felt right.

“My mom cried. It was just kind of like an

instant bond, you couldn’t break it,” she said.

He almost immediately proved his worth.

About a week after bringing Max home, Macy

passed out due to a blood sugar drop. Max ran

back and forth to Macy’s mother until she real-

ized something was wrong with her daughter.

“That’s when we knew he would do good as

a service dog,” Macy said.

After a few months of training at Roverchase

in Pelham, Max earned the purple vest that marks

him as a service animal. He’s trained to lie across

Macy’s legs if she’s about to have a seizure or

lick her arms to indicate that her blood sugar is

low. His early warnings give her enough time to

get to a safe place or take insulin.

“They told me when we started it was going

to be a trust thing, and I was either going to be

ALWAYS

Service dog accompanies Homewood student to school, work

See MAX | page A30

Macy Squires and Max had an instant connection when they met, and he’s been by her side almost constantly for over a year. Photo by

Sydney Cromwell.

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By SYDNEY CROMWELL

When Homewood resident Michael

Murray is walking or driving through

his city, he said he’s always looking

out for interesting properties to own

or develop. It’s a side effect of his

job as an associate broker at Shannon

Waltchack Commercial Real Estate.

In more than 20 years living in

Homewood, Murray said one of those

properties is the Edgewood Service

Center at 1017 Oxmoor Road. The

building itself, as well as its loca-

tion, makes the service center a prime

candidate for what Murray called

“adaptive reuse” — fi tting an existing

building to a new purpose rather than

constructing something new.

“This is one that I’ve had my eye

on for literally years,” Murray said.

Murray said the service center has

operated in Edgewood for nearly 40

years, but within a few months it

could be the site of shops and offi ces.

Shannon Waltchack is in discussions

with the owner of Edgewood Service

Developers eye new Edgewood retail space

See EDGEWOOD | page A31

The Edgewood Service Center is the subject of a proposed

renovation project to become a retail and offi ce space. Photo by

Frank Couch.









On the Mat













page A30

Photo by

Developers eye new Edgewood retail space













page

Photo by

candidate for what Murray called

Developers eye new Edgewood retail spaceSun

facebook.com/thehooversun

Referred for a reason.Proudly keeping homes cleaner



YOU’RE THINKING SPRING CLEAN.

We think thatYOU’RE THINKING SPRING CLEAN.

YOU’RE THINKING SPRING CLEAN.


Neighborly news & entertainment for Hoover Volume 4 | Issue 6 | March 2016

Hoover High brothers

Joe and Anthony Wehby

qualify for the Alabama

Bass Fishing State

championship this summer.

See page B10

See page B16

INSIDE

Gone Fishing Amateur radio operators

find their niche with other

enthusiasts in Bluff Park.

Hams of HooverSponsors .....................A4

City ...............................A

6

Business .....................A12

Chamber ....................A14

Medical Guide ..........A25

Sports ........................... B1

School House ............ B12

Opinion .......................B18

Events .........................B19

Camp Guide ...............B21

Real Estate ...............B26

Calendar .................... B27

INSIDEfacebook.com/thehooversun

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By ERICA TECHO

Montasir Osman has lived in Lake

Cyrus for a year and a half, and until a

few weeks ago his home security con-

sisted of an alarm system and guns in

a safe.However, after fellow Lake Cyrus res-

ident Mike Gilotti was shot and killed

outside his home in January, Osman

added wireless security cameras to his

system. He’s one of many Lake Cyrus

residents who have taken individual pre-

cautions to boost security and keep their

families safe since January.

And the Lake Cyrus community as a

whole also is taking action. The day after

Gilotti’s death, Lake Cyrus residents met

to discuss neighborhood-wide security

measures such as gates, private security

services and surveillance. Nancy Smith,

spokeswoman for the Lake Cyrus Home-

owners Association, said several options

were presented to homeowners at the end

of February.

“What we’ve been doing in the last

few months is gathering information,”

Smith said. “It takes a while to get

the information from all the vendors

together.”Osman said he knows the community

is talking about taking collective action,

A neighborhood,

watchingLake Cyrus residents

boost security after fatal

shooting in January

See LAKE CYRUS | page A31

‘No other options’

School rezoning plan meets opposition as parents turn out

in force to advocate keeping their neighborhoods intact

Parents stand in line to address Superintendent

Kathy Murphy at a Feb. 18 school rezoning

community meeting. Photo by Erica Techo.

By JON ANDERSON

Nothing sends a mother into “mama

bear” mode more than somebody

messing with her children.

So when Hoover school officials

talk about rezoning kids from one

school to another, conversations can get pretty

intense, pretty quickly.

Some Hoover parents say they are fine with

the proposal to send more than 2,700 children to

different schools next year because of proposed

new attendance zones. Some, including many in

the Lake Cyrus community, are even happy with

it because it would keep their children closer to

home.

But others, such as many parents in Trace

Crossings and The Preserve subdivisions, are

adamantly against it, saying the proposal would

force their children to go to a school either farther

away or outside their community.

Hoover schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy

See SCHOOLS | page A30


a safe.However, after fellow Lake Cyrus res

ident Mike Gilotti was shot and killed

outside his home in January, Osman

added wireless security cameras to his

system. He’s one of many Lake Cyrus

residents who have taken individual pre-

cautions to boost security and keep their

families safe since January.







page








page

Volume 3 | Issue 11 | March 2016

facebook.com/vestaviavoice

INSIDE

Hard work of former Vestavia baseball

standout takes him to spring training

with Atlanta.

Sponsors .......... A4

City .....................A6

Business ..........A10

Camp Guide.....A22

Community .......B4

School House ...B12

Sports .............. B16

Medical Guide ..B22

Real Estate..... B25

Calendar ..........B26

Amateur radio operator makes global

connections listening to what’s going

on around the world.

See page A20

Ham Hobby

See page B16

From Rebel to Brave

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By SYDNEY CROMWELL

For Dr. Stephen Hamilton, sometimes it takes

less than half an hour to give someone their vision

back.A 1980 Vestavia Hills High School graduate,

Hamilton is an ophthalmologist at Eye Consul-

tants of Atlanta. He specializes in corneal trans-

plants, Lasik eye surgery and complicated cataract

removals, but his faith and upbringing, Hamilton

said, inspired him to use his medical talents as an

opportunity to help others.

This started with medical missions around the

world, but when it became more diffi cult to travel,

he found there was great need for eye care in his

own city.“My whole career I’ve always taken care of

people. I’ve never turned a patient away if they

can’t afford the care,” Hamilton said. “There’s lots

of need here.”

It began with treating patients who came to

his Atlanta offi ce but, with or without insurance,

couldn’t pay for eye surgery. This was especially

common for cataracts, which Hamilton can remove

in a 10- to 15-minute procedure. Then he decided

to give his work a formal name to help spread the

word: Operation Saving Sight.

“I had a lot of people coming to me that were

completely blind from cataracts, and it’s so easy

for me to help them,” Hamilton said.

Beginning in spring 2015, Operation Saving

Sight has held two free surgery days per year for

patients below the poverty line. Hamilton and the

fellow training with him — who this year is Dr.

Sharing the gift of sight

See SIGHT | page A31

Through Operation Saving Sight, Dr.

Stephen Hamilton performs cataract and

other eye surgeries at no cost to people

living under the poverty line. Photo

courtesy of Stephen Hamilton.

By SYDNEY CROMWELL

Mountain biking is a growing sport at

Vestavia Hills High School, but the

team can’t really fi t practices into the

school gym.

For the 15 to 20 middle and high school students

on the Vestavia Hills team in its second season,

that has meant driving to Oak Mountain State Park

or attempting to avoid traffi c while riding in Lib-

erty Park. Right behind the high school, however,

was an ideal site for practices that head coach Tina

Chanslor and team director Doug Brown never

knew existed.

“I’ve lived in Vestavia forever and I’ve never

gone down the little road to McCallum Park,” said

Chanslor, who is also president of the Birmingham

Urban Mountain Pedalers.

At McCallum Park, Chanslor and Brown see the

potential to build a new trail, not just for mountain

biking, but also for anyone looking to walk, hike

or run in the area.

The mountain bike team is in its second year

and is one of 23 Alabama leagues in the National

Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA), with

the race season running from November to May.

Chanslor said the team competes in several loca-

tions across the state, in races anywhere from fi ve

to 20 miles depending on the riders’ skill level.

The sport is not just about being the fi rst to the

fi nish line. Riders have to deal with challenging

TRAILBLAZERS

Mountain biking team plans new trail at McCallum Park

See BIKING | page A30

High school and middle school

members of the mountain bike team

ride the trails of Oak Mountain State

Park. Photo by Ron Burkett.

connections listening to what’s going

on around the world.

See page A20

From Rebel to Brave

that has meant driving to Oak Mountain State Park

or attempting to avoid traffi c while riding in Lib-

erty Park. Right behind the high school, however,

was an ideal site for practices that head coach Tina

Chanslor and team director Doug Brown never

knew existed.

“I’ve lived in Vestavia forever and I’ve never



Volume 6 | Issue 12 | March 2016Village Livingneighborly news & entertainment for Mountain Brook

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facebook.com/VillageLiving

VillageLivingOnline.com

Sponsors ..........A4

City ....................A6

Business ...........A8

Community .....A10

Camp Guide ...A22

School House .. B4

Opinion ............. B11

Sports .............. B13

Medical Guide ... B18

Calendar ......... B22

INSIDE

Fearless Fire Drills teaches children

with sensory sensitivity how to

respond in emergency situations.

See page B10

See page B16

He’s Unstoppable

Saving Lives

Multiple diagnoses don’t get in the

way of one of the state’s top golfers,

Mountain Brook senior Jonathan

Eyster.









A team of sled dogs pulls Ryne Olson

through the snow of Alaska. Olson

said that mushing gives her the chance

to see beautiful landscapes across the

state. Photos courtesy of Ryne Olson.

The team from Ryno Kennel, led by Alaskan

huskies Neptune and Ham, prepares to start

the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest in February 2015.

ARCTIC

odysseyBy SYDNEY CROMWELL

The Iditarod is known as the last great

race on Earth, and for good reason. Mush-

ers and their dog teams must traverse 1,000

miles of Alaskan wilderness by sled, bat-

tling extreme cold, sleep deprivation and

challenging terrain to be the fi rst across the

fi nish line in Nome, Alaska.

This year, when the sled teams leave

Anchorage on March 5, former Mountain

Brook resident Ryne Olson will be among

them.Olson is now the owner of Ryno Kennel

Former Mountain Brook resident to race in Iditarod

See IDITAROD | page A30

By ANA GOOD

There’s no “one-size-fits-all” approach to

talking to children and teens about social media

and the use of cellphones, said Mountain Brook’s

Director of Student Services Dale Wisely, Ph.D.

Rather, parents and guardians should approach

the topics using multifaceted, age-appropriate

strategies.

That model, explained Wisely, is how the city’s

individual schools implement rules regarding cell-

phones and their use on school grounds.

“Our practices differ among the elementary,

junior high and high school students,” said Wisely.

“For elementary students, our expectations are that

they will not be using cells at school. It would not

be a violation for an elementary school to have a

cellphone in a backpack, for example, but we don’t

allow their use during the school day.”

Rules loosen up just slightly by the time stu-

dents reach the junior high level.

“At our junior high, students are allowed to

bring cellphones, but they must stay out of sight

during the school day,” Wisely said. “Many stu-

dents have phones in their lockers.”

More apps, more problems for kids?

Schools take proactive approach regarding students, social media

See SCHOOLS | page A29

Saving Lives

Vol 1 | Issue 5 | MARCH 2016 As Trussville As It Gets

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Unlimited Colors

Cabinet Modifications/Additions

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WOMEN OF

DISTINCTION

CCHS

TENNIS

Girl Scouts recognize

Trussville resident LaJuana

Bradford for involvement

and contributions to the

community. 14

Clay-Chalkville’s

Laura Lopresti

finds success where

she would have least

expected. 22

Grandview doctor

travels to African

clinic each year. 12

Care in

Kenya

PATRIOTIC RIDE

‘Old Glory’ is labor of love for bike enthusiast. 10

Vol 1 | Issue 5 | MARCH 2016 As Trussville As It Gets

PATRIOTIC RIDE

‘Old Glory’ is labor of love for bike enthusiast.

‘Old Glory’ is labor of love for bike enthusiast. 10

EDITORIAL

Interns will work with the editorial staff to craft news stories and features for our different coverage areas for

both print and online. Interns will cover community events and

pitch story ideas. Photography and videography skills are

an added bonus.

DESIGN

Interns will assist with pagination throughout the

production cycle. Interns will be able to design sections of the paper or special features,

including infographics and illustrations. Experience with

Adobe InDesign and Photoshop is required.

DIGITAL

Interns will help maintain the websites for our publications. This will include transferring print stories to the web, updating the homepages and writing brief stories for the web. Interns will also help coordinate a

schedule for our daily newsletters.

To apply for a 2016 summer internship, email the following items to [email protected] by MARCH 31: ► A cover letter outlining your reasons for wanting the

internship, your availability, your experience and qualifi cations and the area(s) in which you desire to work. ► Your current resume► Three writing or design samples. Consider also sending

examples of photography or videography work.

INTERESTED?

starnes publishing internship programjnews.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/starnes... ·...

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